The Recipe For A Butcher

Fleming-Neon is a small town in the south-east corner of Kentucky, in Letcher County, on the border with Virginia. It exists because of coal. The Elkhorn Coal Corporation established it in 1913 to house the miners working its first big mine, which was named Fleming after the company's president, George W. Fleming. A nearby settlement called Chip was absorbed into Fleming, which became the centre of the local coal towns, and coal was hauled out by train. According to local tradition, the neighbouring town of Neon took its name from the conductor's call of 'neon', meaning get on, to passengers boarding the train. The two towns merged in 1977 to form Fleming-Neon. By the 1980s the coal industry was in decline. At the time of the murders the town had 728 people, down from 1,200 in 1980, and a median household income of $20,781.

this part of the story is covered for now His mother, Kate, married around six men, most of them alcoholics and drug users who beat her and the children. details of the account remain covered until revealed Billy Joe was particularly violent. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed He left custody around 18 or 19, worked menial jobs, used heroin and cocaine, married at 19 and had a daughter, Sharon. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed

the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it Edwin was 65 and Bessie 69; they were a retired couple. this part of the story is covered for now They knocked Edwin to the floor and shots followed. details of the account remain covered until revealed They had taken $35,000 in cash, a diamond cluster ring, a set of diamond earrings and a .38 handgun. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it Edwin Morris was found on the kitchen floor, gagged with his hands tied behind his back and a pillow beside him. He had been shot twice, once in the forehead and once in the right side of the head, and the medical examiner said he would have suffocated from the gag even without the bullets. Bessie Morris was found on a bed in the bedroom, her hands tied behind her back and her feet tied together, with a pillow nearby. She had been shot twice in the back; both wounds were fatal but neither killed her quickly. A ballistics expert linked the bullets to a .38 or .357, and both pillows had large holes with gunshot residue, showing they had been used to muffle the shots. this part of the story is covered for now They also heard rumours of thousands of dollars in silver coins being cashed in.

On August 8th, 1985, just after nine in the evening, two men appeared at the door of Dr Roscoe J. Acker's home in Fleming-Neon. Dr Acker was 78, born in 1907, and had practised medicine in the town for more than forty years before recently retiring; his home office had once been used in the film Coal Miner's Daughter. His daughter, 23-year-old Tammy Acker, was in the house. She had taken the last semester off college and was packed and due to return the next day. She answered the door and called to her father that two FBI agents wanted to speak to him. One man carried a black briefcase. Once inside, one of them grabbed Tammy and dragged her from the kitchen into another room. The men had weapons. They forced Dr Acker to the floor, tied his hands and feet, gagged him and put a sheet over his head, then beat him and demanded the combination of his safe. A third man was seen in a doorway. Dr Acker was forced to open the safe, then felt something tighten around his neck and blacked out. The men left with $1.9 million in cash, along with jewellery and guns. It was, the episode says, the largest cash heist from a private residence in United States history at the time. Dr Acker came to, struggled free and ran to Tammy's room. He found her on the corner of the bed with a butcher knife protruding from her back and stuck through her body into the floor. She had been stabbed twelve times. The family dog had also been stabbed to death.

Tammy Acker died from a haemorrhage caused by stab wounds to the right lung; blood filled her chest cavity, the lung collapsed and she drowned in her own blood. There were twelve puncture wounds in all, including two small wounds at the front where the knife had passed right through her. The responding EMT, Tom Haines, found her with no vitals, her hands tied behind her back and her legs bound in a foetal position, with what looked like a bandana around her neck. Autopsy photographs showed bruising, stab wounds and injuries to her neck.

The FBI joined the case because the robbers had posed as federal agents. details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now They were held without bond and returned to Kentucky a week later. Their apartment and cars contained several guns, including machine guns, and a large amount of cash.

details of the account remain covered until revealed He described how the crew rented campsites under false names, borrowed vans and wore gloves, and he admitted that he had scouted Dr Acker's house about three days before the robbery. He said he tied Tammy up in the back bedroom and choked Dr Acker with a cord, believing him dead. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now

details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now

details of the account remain covered until revealed The court found the performance deficient but ruled that his criminal history would almost certainly have come out anyway, and denied the motion. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now

DNA testing later showed that hairs recovered from the scene did not match any of the three men, but the courts held that this proved nothing, since other people had been in the house. On October 24th, 2010, a judge in southern Kentucky considered the DNA evidence; in 2011 he ruled that it would not have changed the outcome. details of the account remain covered until revealed Early in 2013 Mccovered name was removed from a death penalty case. this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed

Edwin and Bessie Morris are buried at the Hayes Morris cemetery in Jackson County, Kentucky. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it